Friday, October 8, 2010

"At first blush, Jeremy Rifkin would hardly seem to be talking about Dominion Theology. After all, he advocates the paradigm of 'entropy.' Our mission as humans, this New Ager says, is to 'dress and keep the earth.' Rifkin calls this the "stewardship paradigm.' The Dominion theologians, on the other hand, such as Rushdoony and Gary North, say that our mission is to 'subdue the earth.' What do these two have in common? It is the pointing of their respective camps into preparation for revolution at approximately the same time, with both sides being convinced they will control the outcome. Both planned a significant role for the charismatics in advancing their mission.... While Dominionist theologian Gary North has been critical of Rifkin, he has nonetheless been following a Rifkinesque scenario of bringing the revolution he envisions to birth – both in terms of planned use of evangelicals and charismatics."

The same template has been followed for both – the very sameblueprint was used from day one. The rising political power and influence of the New Apostolic Reformation, and the simultaneous growth of the Emergent Church movement, is no accident. It was planned all along. And New Ager Jeremy Rifkin wrote the "blueprint" for it!

This blueprint for an "emerging order" was published as a book, significantly in the year 1979, just after the Evangelical Consultations on the Future,[2] and before the rapid rise of the political Right in the early 1980s. Titled The Emerging Order: God in the Age of Scarcity,[3]Rifkin's book, at first blush, appears to be a manifesto for environmental stewardship. And that is indeed one of its objectives. But that's not its full purpose, as New Age expert, author Constance Cumbey, noted. She wrote about it in her book A Planned Deception,[4] where she explained how Rifkin had passed himself off as a Christian during the era in which The Emerging Order was published:"Rifkin has deceived many Christians and he has used his friendship with Pat Robertson to help do it. In 1980 Robertson praised Rifkin'sEntropy unpublished manuscript. (p. 157)

"Pat Robertson sent a newsletter endorsing that book while it was still an unpublished manuscript! Pat Robertson's Perspective of June/July 1980, rather than exposing this horrible threat to Christianity, almost made it sound Christian...." (p. 161)

Cumbey detailed the many New Age connections and philosophies embraced by Rifkin, and then explained that "Rifkin also wrote The Emerging Order. There he made it clear that the evangelical church would be their primary instrument to bring the new world order to birth." (p. 162)

Rifkin's book was touted as a blueprint. The cover jacket for The Emerging Order states, "In this provocative book, the authors provide a blueprintfor American culture that is staggering in its implications. Beyond being yet another indictment of the liberal welfare state, their thesis points to a major cultural reformation in which religion will play a leading role in the rearrangement of our nation's priorities."

The book was also called "a blueprint for the economic and spiritual challenges facing the Christian community in the remainder of this century" by Senator Mark Hatfield, a key member of the secretive Washington Fellowship ("The Family").[5]Hatfield's endorsement of the book may become increasingly significant.

A "second Protestant reformation" –"a great religious awakening"

In the introduction to The Emerging Order, Rifkin lays out hisblueprint, stating that he believed that "we are in the early morning hours of a second Protestant reformation" which is evident by "the shift now taking place in Protestant doctrine."(p. ix) In the late 1970s, noticing the rapid rise of "church renewal" that was taking place across America, he expressed the hope that this event would "give form to a new theological construct; one whose sweep is so broad that it could well consume the theological world view of the Reformation." (p. ix) He wanted to hitch a ride on the renewal train, and his blueprint told how to commandeer the train and turn it onto a new track.

This seemed impossible at the time. But Rifkin outlined a specific plan. He proposed jumpstarting a "second Reformation" with the missing element of mysticism. The emphasis on the "supernatural" would "provide a bridge" to acceptance of both new doctrines and a global economic transformation, he suggested. The basic blueprintfor using mysticism was articulated as follows:

"Today's Christian renewal movement is a two-pronged phenomenon. First, there are the millions upon millions of Charismatics, whose belief in supernatural gifts of faith healing, speaking in tongues, and prophesy represents a monumental assault on the modern age itself. For the Charismatics, these supernatural powers are beginning to replace science, technique and reason as the critical reference points for interpreting one's day-to-day existence. If this unconscious challenge to the modern world view continues to intensify, it could provide the kind of liberating force that could topple the prevailing ethos and provide a bridge to the next age of history."(p. x)

The blueprint also called for a corresponding more rational approach, a pseudo-intellectualism that could concoct new doctrines, especially doctrines that would lead Christians to embrace a "new covenant vision" and a "new world view."

"While the Charismatics are generating a potential liberating impulse, the more mainline evangelical movement is beginning to provide the necessary reformulation of theological doctrine that is essential for the creation of a new covenant vision and a new world view." (p. x)

What was to be the key doctrinal shift for this Emerging Order? Rifkin identified Dominionism, especially the early chapters in Genesis, as the core doctrine that must be "redefined." The process of "redefining" Dominionism is explained in this manner:

"God's very first commandment to humankind in the book of Genesis is being redefined. Its redefinition changes the entire relationship of human beings to both God and the temporal world. In the beginning, God says to Adam 'have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.' 'Dominion,' which Christian theology has for so long used to justify people's unrestrained pillage and exploitation of the natural world, has suddenly and dramatically been reinterpreted. Now, according to the new definition of dominion, God's first instruction to the human race is to serve as a steward and protector over all of his creation."(p. x)

Note how easily this "redefinition" of Dominion caught on. There was virtually no opposition to this heresy!

"It is interesting to observe that this most fundamental reconception of God's first order to his children on earth has been accepted by Protestant scholars, ministers and practitioners in just a few short years without any significant opposition being voiced. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find a leading Protestant scholar anywhere today who would openly question this new interpretation of dominion in the Book of Genesis.... While it is true that the new interpretation of dominion is also being promulgated by the mainline Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church, it is the evangelical community, with its resurgent spiritual vitality, that has the momentum, drive and energy that is required to achieve this radical theological transformation in American society."(p. x-xi)

Rifkin was right. Protestant and Catholic scholars had begun developing this Dominion theology. But by the mid-1970s, changing doctrines had also become a major project of Fuller Theological Seminary and its evangelical cohorts. C. Peter Wagner, Ralph Winter, and other professors began to chip away at traditional orthodoxy, slowly concocting a strange brew of ever-evolving progressive "revelations," heading towards an outright Dominionist theology. Thanks to Ralph Winter, Mission Frontiers, and the U.S. Center for World Mission, the "redefinition" teachings of Dominionism were standard fare in the global mission movement by the mid-1990s.

But all of this activity was still missing a critical ingredient Rifkin had identified as necessary to shift over to "a great religious awakening" – the mysticism. He wrote:

"If the Charismatic and evangelical strains of the new Christian renewal movement come together and unite a liberating energy with a new covenant vision for society, it is possible that a great religious awakening will take place, one potentially powerful enough to incite a second Protestant reformation."(p. xi)

Here it was, The Master Plan for the next "great religious awakening." It took one man, C. Peter Wagner, to ignite the fuse according the plan laid out in Rifkin's blueprint. Wagner became a key player in a confluence that began to have massive repercussions throughout the rest of evangelicalism. It began to take off when John Wimber of the Vineyard Movement connected with the Kansas City "prophets," part of the old Latter Rain cult. John Wimber had previously been hand-picked as an “experiment” by C. Peter Wagner as part of his Fuller Theological Seminary class on “signs and wonders.” Wimber’s connection to the Kansas City group proved to be the catalyst for the beginnings of "The Third Wave," what C. Peter Wagner was to later call the “New Apostolic Reformation.” In short order the esoteric doctrines of the Latter Rain movement trickled into mainstream evangelicaldom and gradually became an integral part of the postmodern evangelical canon. And because of Wagner’s influence, Latter Rain leaders such as Mike Bickle and Rick Joyner, who were obscure in 1991, are now widely known throughout evangelicalism. The Latter Rain cult, most notable for its anomalous signs and wonders, would pick up steam and continue to provide the necessary "powerful," "liberating energy" to fuel the blueprint.

Jeremy Rifkin's "great religious awakening" went a step further. It called for a "new Protestant conservation ethic, ready-made for the new age of scarcity the world is moving into."(p. xi) To accomplish this he called for a "great economic transformation," an "economic shift," the intended result of the "theological spark" created by "the evangelical awakening that is spreading across America and... the... second Protestant reformation emerging between now and the year A.D. 2000."(p. xii) This economic shift would be nothing less than a global redistribution of wealth. This theme was dutifully picked up by the New Apostolic Reformation as an abiding prophecy, and continues to gather steam as it co-mingles with Dominionism.[6]

There was still another missing ingredient. It took an entire generation to come up with it, but after oodles of money, gigantic publishing contracts, and massive stealth "change agent" training, Leadership Network became a leading player in the more mainstream evangelical world. It began by dialectically facilitating both components of the blueprint for transformation. It developed a church structure that modeled corporations in a form of extreme pragmatism that rewrote the basic biblical doctrines of "church." It then hijacked the consumer-driven train and turned the church into its own marketing agent for the blueprint. And it simultaneously launched the Emergent Church movement, which added the necessary pizazz of mysticism to blunt rational thought. Its leading Emergent spokesperson from early on, Brian McLaren, would serialize Rifkin'sblueprint in his successive books, each more fine-tuned than the last, systematically destroying the old order theology while laying the groundwork for the new order theology.[7]

Just how did Rifkin propose to implement such a monumental scheme? In 1980 it seemed far-fetched and nearly impossible. But the wholeblueprint is fully operational today, thirty years later, and no longer a plan but a reality.

To be continued. . . .

The Truth:

"Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me:" (Isaiah 54:15a)

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His People will Stand Unmoved

In the midst of the time of trouble --trouble such as has not been since there was a nation-- His chosen ones will stand unmoved. Satan with all the hosts of evil cannot destroy the weakest of God's saints. Angels that excel in strength will protect them, and in their behalf Jehovah will reveal Himself as a "God of gods," able to save to the uttermost those who have put their trust in Him. PK 513

"If ye love Me, keep my commandments"

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." John 15:10.

Till Heaven and Earth Pass

Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. - Matt. 5:17

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. - Matt. 5:18

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matt. 5:19

President Lincoln's Prophecy

“I see a very dark cloud on America’s horizon, and that dark cloud is coming from Rome.’’ - Charles Chiniquy (1809-1899), Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, The Wickliffe Press, Protestant Truth Society, Wickliffe Avenue, 104 Hendon Lane, Finchley, London, N3., 1885, p. 510.

Adams on Liberty and Popery

"I have long been decided in opinion that a free government and the Roman Catholick religion can never exist together in any nation or Country." "Liberty and Popery cannot live together." - John Adams, 2nd President of the United States

Jefferson knew the Danger

"I do not like the late Resurrection of the Jesuits. They have a General, now in Russia, in correspondence with jesuits in the U.S. who are more numerous than everybody knows. Shall We not have Swarms of them here? In as many shapes and disguises as ever.... In the shape of printers, Editors, Writers, School masters, etc. If ever any Congregation of men could merit, eternal Perdition on Earth and in Hell... it is this Company of Loyola." - Thomas Jefferson, 2nd President of the United States

The French General's Prophecy

"It is my opinion that if the liberties of this country — the United States — are destroyed, it will be by the subtlety of the Roman Catholic Jesuit priests, for they are the most crafty, dangerous enemies to civil and religious liberty. They have instigated most of the wars in Europe."- General Marquis De Layfayette

Noah Webster on Idolatry

"All worship of images and saints, is an abomination to God; it is idolatry, which is strictly forbidden in the Bible." - American lexicographer and statesman Noah Webster

Luther Identified the Antichrist

"I hope that the last day is at the door. Things could not become worse than the Roman see makes it. It suppresses the commandments of God, it exalts its own commandments above God's. If this is not Antichrist, then some one else must tell what it is." - Luther's Reformatory Works," p. 280. Copenhagen: 1883.

The Number of a Man

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Revelation 13:18

No Fear but the Fear of God

Zealous, ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures, Luther was the man for his time; through him God accomplished a great work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the world. When the papal bull reached Luther, he said: "I despise it, and resist it, as impious and false. . . . It is Christ himself who is condemned therein." "I glory in the prospect of suffering for the best of causes. Already I feel greater liberty; for I know now that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself."

John Wycliffe's Wisdom

Wycliffe the great reformer wrote: “Christ is truth, the Pope is the principle of falsehood. Christ lived in poverty, the Pope labours for worldly magnificence. Christ refused temporal dominion, the Pope seeks it.”

"Keep Them Separate"

Precious,Truth Filled Books

Martin Luther Stood Alone

To the reproaches of his enemies, who taunted him with the weakness of his cause, Luther answered: "Who knows if God has not chosen and called me to perform this needed work, and if these babblers ought not to fear that by despising me, they despise God himself? They say I am alone; no, for Jehovah is with me. In their sense, Moses was alone at the departure from Egypt; Elijah was alone in the reign of King Ahab; Isaiah was alone in Jerusalem; Ezekiel was alone in Babylon. Hear this, O Rome: God never selected as a prophet either the high priest or any great personage; but rather, he chose low and despised men, once even the shepherd Amos. In every age the saints have been compelled to rebuke kings, princes, recreant priests, and wise men at the peril of their lives." "I do not say that I also am a prophet; but I do say that they ought to fear precisely because I am alone, while on the side of the oppressor are numbers, caste, wealth, and mocking letters. Yes, I am alone; but I stand serene, because side by side with me is the Word of God; and with all their boasted numbers, this, the greatest of powers, is not with them."

A Precious, Truth-filled Book

There are 300 Scripture topics in question and answer form in this paperback book of 654 pages. Typically a question is asked and a Bible verse printed in response. Frequently there is a further explanatory note.

Read it ONLINE or, if you have a United States or Canadian post office address, Project Restore will be happy to send a complimentary copy of this book to you (limit = one copy per person). For your convenience, we have provided a request form that you can fill in and submit online, or print and mail to us. Source:Project Restore